them a major company today. In 1990 Ross attempted to change its target market and it resulted in a significant decline in company sales and market share.
• Ross offers a variety of products, which include: apparel, bed and bath, home accents, furniture, jewelry, and beauty products. o In 1991, Ross added three new categories to its existing merchandise: home accents, bed and bath and non-apparel categories. This growth allowed Ross to compete with bigger retailers in the market at the time (e.g. Walmart, Target and Tj Maxx). o Compared to the competition, Ross has the same merchandise mix. Compared to its competitors some sections, like furniture, are not as large. Ross should try research the merchandise category that customers prefer to buy in other discounted retailers and invest in that category.
• Ross has a great expansion strategy boasting more than 1270 stores over 34 states. o Ross’ expansion strategy has been a key element for brand recognition and
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o In recent years corporate social responsibility has become a very relevant topic in the today’s business environment. Ross’ constant effort to give back to the community, decrease environmental impact and human rights awareness has contributed to the rapid grow of the company. o Ross has several programs that support the community. Some examples are partnering with associations like First Book, American Heart Association or American Red Cross. They also use green energy, which allows them to decrease the amount of electricity used in retail stores by about 30%. o Ross is up-to-date with corporate social responsibility and therefore should just continue to follow the same approach they have been doing. They are industry leaders for the retail industry. Continuing to follow their current corporate social responsibility standards will yield company growth and success.
Weaknesses
• Low online and social media strategies compared to
Lowe’s grew through strategic choice by heavily focusing on key functional areas involving research and development (R&D), marketing, and logistics. Lowe’s important R&D investments included the creation of two prototype stores. The first prototype with 147,000 square feet catered to large markets and the other with 120,000 square feet catered to smaller markets (Rouse, 2005). Lowe’s used these store prototypes to help guide their continued growth and store placement. The prototypes also aided the company in designing future stores more efficiently with respect to energy and sustainability (Lowe’s Companies, Inc., n.d.). Furthermore, Lowe’s marketing strategy concentrated on attracting new customers and enhancing current customer satisfaction. To bring new customers to the store, Lowe’s engaged in a pull marketing strategy (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012). The com...
The external factors impaction Macy’s in the retailing business and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia are political, economic, technological, and social factors. There are two main factors impacting Macy’s retailing business. The first one is the advance of e-commerce in the 1990s and early twenty-first century. Customers were now exposed to online competitors who sometimes had the same products at a lower price. The second factor is the growth of specialty stores and discount stores such as Target and Wal-Mart. Due to the economy hardship customers were trading the higher levels of customer service and products selection to more affordable products in other to save money.
Windsor, D. (2001). The future of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 9 (3): 225-256.
Definition of Main Problem: There can be no argument that Wal*Mart has revolutionized the discount retailing industry. Furthermore, CEO Glass and COO Soderquist have stepped in at the helm of this company and continued to take it in the right direction by quadrupling sales and profits from 1987 to 1993. The main problem they now face is how to sustain their phenomenal performance, and becoming number one has magnified this issue. No longer can they just sneak into small towns where the only competition is the local merchant’s shop. No longer can they copy larger companies like Sears and J.C. Penny’s because of their size and scope. The fact is, Wal*Mart is bigger than these companies and their direct competitors Kmart and Target are doing everything in their power to close that gap. They are lurking not so quietly in the shadows, benefiting from Wal*Mart’s past choices, successes, and failures. They are there to blow the whistle if Wal*Mart steps outside the lines. Wal*Mart may be growing, but at a rate under 10% for the first time in years. Shareholders are concerned, the press is relentless, and many obstacles lie in their path if they hope to continue the trends Sam Walton set so ambitiously in 1962.
b. Sears Essentials, as a combination of Sears and Kmart, offers an opportunity for them to compete on the level of Walmart and Target.
In the United States in 2015 it had 24.5% of the total grocery retailer’s market share, with its closest competitor having less than half of Wal-Mart’s share. Wal-Mart has a strong brand value and customer loyalty is very high, which is a direct result of successful strategic planning and their business model. Another great strength is Wal-Mart’s global presence, with only 60% of the company’s total revenues being produced in the U.S. Their commitment to diversity and global expansion has strengthened their brand and increased their cash flows and total revenues.
Ross (ROST) is considered a discount store. The goal for Ross since 1982 is to bring merchandise to customers at a discounted price. They are known as the nation’s largest off-price retail (About us, n.d.). As of August 30, 2017, the value for Ross is 58.43 per share. The dividend yield is 1.10 and the 30 day average volume is over 4 million. The Investment Weekly released the 2016 fiscal year numbers that showed the Ross was continuing to have more sales than other comparable stores. Ross had grown 8% in the fourth quarter of 2016 which increased the sales to 3.5 billion. The Investment Weekly states, “For the fiscal year, earnings per share rose 13% to $2.83, while net earnings increased 10% to $1.1 billion. Sales for the 2016 fiscal
Kmart's main weakness was that it had an aspiration to be all things to all people – its dabblings in drug stores, home improvement stores, bookstores, cafeterias and specialty stores in the 1980s and early 1990s seemed to spread the company very thin. This focus on diversification is just one example of how the retailer has often not made the wisest choices when faced with a tight spot. By the 1980s, just before the rise of Wal-Mart, Kmart had become complacent. It believed it would be the king of discount retailing, now and forever.
The 90’s brought continued success as Walmart was named America’s #1 retailer with more stores being built each year and profits exploding (“Our History”, 2016). Walmart began expanding globally and had stores in Mexico, Canada, and China by the end of the 90’s. As Walmart entered the new millennium they were honored with being
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
Many of the brands of products sold in Sears and Kmart stores are proprietary. They include Craftsman tools, Diehard batteries, Canyon River Blues apparel, and Kenmore appliances. In addition to the products it sells, the company also provides many services, including auto and home repair.
Competitor like Wal-Mart is expanding their business operations to the emerging markets of China, India. These emerging markets show great potential of growth and success in long term. If Sears Holdings carefully studies environment and creates partnership with Local Corporation so it can success in these markets. There is a growing trend in the American markets for the retailing entering into food and groceries. Sears can think of entering into this segment to expand its branding move stores closer to customers. This can increase its market share to many folds. Sears Holdings needs to rebrand as lot of it private labels in the markets to maximize their impact in the current
Sears began as a small retailer but as the years have gone by, they have become
Subsidiaries include Sears, Roebuck and Co., Kmart, KCD IP, Shop Your Way, and MetaScale among others.
Green and sustainable companies has made social responsibility an important part of their business models.